Giants summer questionnaire: FB Henry Hynoski

Terry Gilliam/MCTFullback Henry Hynoski caught two passes for 19 yards against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI and expects his role in the passing game to expand in 2012.

Fullback Henry Hynoski went undrafted last season out of Pittsburgh after his draft stock plummeted due to an injury during the NFL combine. The Giants picked him up and he started primarily as a blocker before his role increasingly expanded in the passing game out of the backfield -- in the regular-season finale against he caught a career-high four passes for 31 yards and added five more in two postseason games.

Hynoski talks about having a full offseason under his belt, his role in the passing game and being one of the last of a dying breed as a fullback in today's NFL in the latest installment of our Giants summer questionnaire series.
Like the other members of your rookie class from last season, you're going through your first full offseason. How has that helped you so far?

I just feel a lot more confident in everything I'm doing. Everything is flowing more smoothly for me just because I have a whole year under my belt and I just go out there and I almost know what's going to happen before the play even starts so I just have a great feel for everything and really just my confidence level is through the roof right now.
As last season went on, you became more of a threat to catch passes out of the backfield. Do you see your role in that capacity increasing?

Oh, yeah. Absolutely, absolutely. I think I'm going to be more involved not just from a blocking standpoint – I’ll obviously be doing more things with that – but I think from a receiving standpoint I think they see me as a weapon and I think opponents view me as a weapon out of the backfield so I think it's definitely something they’re going to work into the gameplan weekly.
David Wilson provides a level shiftiness that other running backs on the team don't provided. Is blocking for him a little different?

We'll see when we put pads on. Right now it's just full speed until contact. We'll see how everything develops when you could actually make a full and complete read. But right now there really is no difference. I feel like david, like Ahmad, is making all the right cuts and right reads and cutting off me properly and the lineman. It's just hard to get a full speed picture until you're actually hitting in pads so right now he just seems up to speed with everything he's doing.
We're seeing fewer and fewer traditional fullbacks in today's pass-happy NFL. Do you take pride in being one of the few remaining?

Yeah, absolutely. You know what? If you have a good fullback, they're going to stick because you always need that lead blocker somewhere to set the tone and just throw the hammer down once in a while.